A proposed 211-mile industrial road that would cut through Alaska’s pristine wilderness to reach a proposed copper-zinc mine would disrupt the way of life of Alaska Native communities, harm fish and caribou, and permanently Environmental groups say it is likely to accelerate the thaw of frozen land. The review was released by the Biden administration on Friday.
The road, known as the Ambler Access Project, passes through the gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve and requires federal permission to move forward. The question of whether to approve this is due to President Biden’s clean energy policy, which involves the need for copper and other metals needed for wind turbines, solar panels, and other clean energy technologies, and the need for pristine tundra and tribal lands. This runs counter to President Biden’s pledge to protect them.
The Trump administration had approved the road project in July 2020, over the objections of some Alaska Native groups, but Biden withheld the permit, saying the environmental impact had not been adequately studied.
The Home Office released a new draft analysis on Friday that looked at the impacts of three potential routes for the proposed road, as well as the “do nothing” alternative if the road is not built. None of the four possible choices indicated a preference. The administration will accept public comments on the draft analysis for 60 days before issuing a final environmental impact statement. A permit decision is expected next year.
Conservation groups and many Alaska Native tribes are calling on the Biden administration to halt the plan. This road they maintain could cut right through the base of the gates of the majestic Arctic Park, disrupting caribou migration patterns, contaminating salmon spawning grounds, and potentially leading indigenous communities to the center of subsistence livelihoods. This would make it difficult to hunt caribou.
“The caribou are struggling, the fish are struggling,” said Julie Roberts Hislop, the first Tanana chief from the village of Tanana on the Yukon River. “This opens up areas where species are already struggling to survive.”
The analysis also found that either road alternative “could significantly limit subsistence uses” for at least half of nearby Alaska Native communities. The study presents a far more dire assessment than one conducted under the Trump administration, which largely denied the road’s impact on fish, caribou and indigenous peoples.
But mining companies and some renewable energy advocates say cutting off access to the region’s deposits of copper, zinc, cobalt and other metals could have serious implications for clean energy. He warns.
According to the International Energy Agency, there are currently not enough minerals available for countries to quickly transition from coal, oil and gas to wind, solar and other clean energy. Global demand for copper alone is expected to surge 270% over the next decade, significantly outstripping supply by 2050.
The Anti-Inflation Act, which Biden signed last year and includes $370 billion in clean energy investments, requires the government to develop domestic supply chains for critical minerals, most of which are currently processed in China. has been done.
The administration is relying on rapidly increasing renewable energy and electric vehicles to meet its goal of cutting the country’s global warming emissions by about half by the end of this decade.
The Ambler Mine District, located in northwest Alaska, has the potential to produce approximately 159 million pounds of copper over a 12-year life, as well as 199 million pounds of zinc, 33 million pounds of lead, and 3.3 million pounds of lead. ounces of silver, and 30,600 ounces of gold, according to a 2018 feasibility study.
Environmentalists argue that the predicted mineral yields are unproven and overly optimistic, arguing that larger reserves exist in less ecologically sensitive areas of the country.
And they say the industrial road needed to connect to the proposed mine is itself an environmental threat, with large trucks and equipment roaring across the Brooks Range’s 11 major rivers and nearly 3,000 streams. It is claimed that this is to make it possible.
The Alaska Development Authority’s proposed two-lane, all-season gravel route from the Dalton Highway through the gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve to the proposed mine is the best of the three routes being considered. It’s cheap. .
The Department of the Interior found the road would disturb about 4,000 acres of caribou habitat, disrupt seven communities that rely on hunting and fishing for a living, and could hasten permafrost thaw.
“Ice-rich soils in the proposed corridor are likely to warm and thaw with or without construction,” the study said. “However, construction is expected to amplify or accelerate thawing in soils in certain locations.”
The expected greenhouse gas emissions from trucking ore from the mine after road construction is estimated at 51,972 tons of carbon dioxide per year. This roughly equates to 11,500 cars on the road each year.
Rico DeWild, 48, a hunter and trapper who makes his living from Haslia, a city near the planned road, invites people unfamiliar with the area to explore the Arctic, where caribou, bears, elk and dhole all work together. He said he was concerned that it would disturb the ecosystem of the country. sheep, birds, salmon and other fish.
“Our culture is tied to food,” DeWilde said. “The fact that so many people think it’s natural to talk about the great Alaskan hunt at campfires means they’re basically eliminating a culture by eliminating a food source. is.”
Alaska state leaders argue that the Alaska Land Conservation Act of 1980 guarantees the proposed Ambler Road right-of-way over federal land. Supporters of the road said they believe this means the Biden administration will eventually be forced to approve the project, but could impose expensive conditions.
The road project has the support of Alaska’s two U.S. senators and its only representative. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) accused the Biden administration of blocking progress. “This is a typical Biden administration: weakening America’s power at a very dangerous time, subverting the clear intent of federal law, and lying to Alaska,” he said in a statement.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority Board, the state’s development bank, first applied for federal permits to build the road in 2015 and has already approved about $44.8 million in funding for the project. It claimed the mining district is estimated to create more than 3,900 direct and indirect jobs and more than $300 million in annual wages, providing new revenue to state and local coffers.
Ramzi Fawaz, CEO of Ambler Metals, a joint venture between two companies seeking to mine the site and nearby companies, said he was “confident” the company could address any issues raised by the new analysis. ,” he said in a statement.
“The Ambler Access Project was authorized by federal law more than 40 years ago and has received support throughout Alaska and within the region,” Fawaz said.
“This project is urgent because it provides access to significant mineral deposits throughout the region. Mining is essential to U.S. national security, achieving decarbonization goals, enforcing existing climate change laws, and “It’s critical to building a stronger rural Alaska economy,” he said.
But John Goedeke, 48, who runs a wilderness lodge in the Brooks Range that his parents built in 1974,
He said there should be no industrial roads or mining operations in the most remote places on earth.
“Is this the idea that we save the planet or improve the environment by destroying it?” he said. “That doesn’t make sense to me.”